July 2019

July was a busy month with lots of things going on but was fun!

My best friend growing up, Michelle Page, got married.  She married the nicest guy.  I was so happy I got to be there for it.  She was married when I was on my mission and I missed it and she ended up getting divorced a couple years later.  I'm so happy she found such a great guy!


Christy and family came to town so we did lots of fun cousin things.  We went bowling with cousins and our annual dinner up the canyon.


Jaron used some of his points he earned this summer to go to a Summer League Jazz game with Shane.


4th of July was fun, we had our neighborhood parade (no breakfast this year) then spent the afternoon swimming at Whitney's parents house which was fun to watch all the cousins swim while we sat under the pergola talking.  That evening we met up with Brigitte and family and played at the park for a while and then went to her sister's mother in law's house to watch Stadium of Fire fireworks.


The Saturday after the 4th of July we headed out of town.  My parents rented a 4-plex for our entire family to go spend the week at the beach in Oceanside.  We went a little early and spent the weekend in St. George and Las Vegas.



We can't forget our traditional pictures of Aria and Shane at the Aria hotel.


We had soooo much fun at the beach.  We shared a condo with my parents and they all overlooked the ocean.  We literally just hung out on the beach all day.  The kids all played with each other and cousins and the adults sat under the shade talking, reading and eating.  It was the perfect set up.  At nights we took turns making dinner and then played games, walked to the pier for ice cream, etc.  It was one of those super relaxing fun trips that we will always remember.



We can't forget all the swimming time we got in at our neighborhood pool.  The kids have turned into such good swimmers and they love any time we can make an hour or so to get to the pool.


And last but certainly not least because besides going to the beach, I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of the kids summer.  We got a pet Guinea Pig.  They had been begging for a pet for so long.  Aria had checked out so many books on all sorts of different animals and how to care for them.  So I found this guinea pig in Riverton and for the guinea pig, cage, food and all the stuff he needed it was $20.  He has ended up being the best little pet.  The kids take turn cleaning his cage and play with him every day.  If they ever start to ignore him or complain about cleaning up after him I just threaten to sell him again for $20 and they know I can and will.  But seriously these kids LOVE this guinea pig.  When we got him the previous owners had named him Rocket but the kids wanted to change it so they all agreed and came up with the name Gilbert.  It's kind of cute I have to admit, Gilbert the guinea pig. We call him Gilbs for short.  He's a hit with all the neighborhood kids and many parents text me after their kid has been over saying thanks a lot now my kid wants a guinea pig.

Jaron turns 6!

That's right, Jaron is 6!


Having a summer birthday is fun because there are so many things to do.  This year we decided to go to Cowabunga Bay on his actual birthday.  It was fun and the kids were a little braver going on a few bigger water slides.  They like the lazy river the most.  Afterwards he got to pick where we went for dinner and he chose Chuck a Rama...for some reason my kids think this is the best place ever.  They don't even eat that well there but I think they like the idea of eating lots and a big variety of stuff.


The day after his birthday he had his friend party.  We had everyone over for pizza, opened presents and then went to Funtopia for an hour.  Super fun and easy and everyone had fun.  The hardest part was figuring out who to invite.  We only had so much space in our cars to transport everyone and so Jaron had to narrow down the list.  Jaron has become good friends with a bunch of boys in this area and it's been fun to see them all play together and get together on different occasions.


Jaron is so into sports these days.  He loves anything with a ball.  He is constantly throwing a ball around the house, and it doesn't matter what kind...bouncy ball, soft blow up ball, small squishy balls, football, basketball, soccer, it doesn't matter.  He still loves to cuddle with me and I love that he still does that.  He is a mama's boy and I love it.  He's smart and such a good reader.  I thought about holding him back with a July birthday but he definitely did need to be and I think he would've been bored if I had held him back.  He has lots of friends and enjoys school.  He is still doing speech but hoping this is our last year as everyone tells me how much better he is speaking.  He has a couple letters (K, G) that he is still working on but then he is done. 

June 2019

Summer has officially begun.  We spent June doing lots of things around town.  We kept very busy with our many activities.  Luckily this summer I was able to limit my work to morning hours so we were able to spend a lot more time just having fun.

We spent time with cousins petting horses and library craft time.



Jaron played coach pitch baseball.  He likes baseball but is not his favorite sport.  But really he is up for just about any sport these days.  He loves to play ball and spends most days throwing a ball around our house.


We set up our tent in the basement and let them play down there, watch a movie and sleep down there one night.  I didn't know if they would last the whole night down there by themselves but they totally did.


The kids went to a week long kids camp and did different themed activities each day and had a lot of fun.


We went to Bridal Veil falls one day.  The run off was crazy this year with all the snow we got so I was nervous and wouldn't let me kids get close to the river.  I could barely watch all the families that didn't seemed bothered and went right up to it.


The kids learned to climb the door frames in our house...insert eye roll.


Shane's birthday and Father's day.  We sure love him and are so grateful he's ours.  He works so hard and we love that he works at home because we get to spend lots of time with him.


Ice cream and soda dates.


Learning to tie shoes and making cookies.


The Pace's came a few times this summer and we love when we get to see them.  The kids always pick up right where they left off.


The girls got to go to Camp Jeremiah Johnson with their Activity Days group.  We had all girl groups and cub scouts in our ward go together this day.  It was a super fun day and they did so many activities.  Bottle Rockets, shooting, rafting, human foosball, archery.


The girls used some of the points they earned this summer to go to a rodeo.  The kids are able to earn points for doing reading, chores, music practice, etc. and then they can spend their points on small treats, dates, prizes throughout the summer.  It seems to work well for us to keep them reading and doing productive things each day before we play.


We took a day and went downtown.  We walked in and around the Capital and hiked Ensign Peak and ended at temple square.  I always love going downtown at least once in the summer time, very different experience then when we go at Christmas time.